National Motor Museum

In January 2013 The Beaverbrook Foundation generously began to fund the posts of Motoring Archivist (part-time) and Film & Video Curator (full-time) at the National Motor Museum Trust, Beaulieu. Initially this funding covered a period of three years but in late 2015 the Foundation kindly agreed to extend the funding period for a further two years, for the latter role.

The post of Film & Video Curator was newly created to address a significant gap in the care of that collection. Prior to the Beaverbrook Foundation Funding, the Motoring Archive relied upon external support, with an archivist visiting two days a month.

The funding of both roles enabled the National Motor Museum Trust to give opportunities to both newly qualified and career changing professionals, enabling them to develop into their roles and to bring fresh thinking to the organisation.

The Motoring Archive was founded in 1960 and holds an array of original, paper–based, archival material. This ranges from motoring related personal correspondence and memorabilia, to company records and technical drawings. There is information about vehicles and accessories, manufacturers and designers, events and drivers. There are more than 300 collections, comprising an estimated 100,000 items housed in over 1,000 boxes. Thomas Barnes was recruited to the Archivist role, which was later taken over by Helen Sumping. Thomas’ principal focus was to identify the needs and priorities of the collection through conducting a comprehensive audit. This task was accompanied by the rehousing of the collections in archival boxes to ensure their long-term preservation. Over 90% of the archive is now protected in either archival quality boxes or in plan chests to ensure better preservation.

Thomas (and then Helen) set about systematically reducing the cataloguing backlog and posting newly discovered information on Archives Hub, a national online research portal for archival collections, widening access to the material held.

The work conducted by both Thomas and Helen also revealed that this Collection is much larger than previously thought, occupying 24 cubic metres of shelving, rather than the 10 metres originally estimated. The collection is now much more clearly understood and accessible, with great improvements having been achieved in both the care and the documentation of the items held. Whilst the role of Motoring Archivist has been vacated, Sarah has been subsequently contributing to the maintenance of this collection by supervising the Archive volunteer who previously worked with Helen. Working with the Enquiries Office, Sarah has overseen several acquisitions to the archive, ensuring that this part of the Collections remains active.

Both the Motoring Archivists and the Film & Video Curator have recruited and trained a number of volunteers to assist with their work. This has given those volunteers opportunities to develop new skills and to forge new social connections.

The Film, Video and Sound Collection was established at the National Motor Museum in 1979. Initial collecting focussed on British motor manufacturers, many of whom were ceasing trading or changing ownership in the 1980s. In addition, a number of private motoring-themed collections were obtained, mainly amateur footage from motoring enthusiasts, giving an insight into how the motor car influenced leisure pursuits of the families featured. The Film and Video Collection now comprises over 45,000 items. Significant collections include those of Ford, Vauxhall, the Rootes Group, the Metropolitan Police, the AA and Dunlop. It spans a wide range of motoring-related topics including home movies, manufacturers’ promotional films, motor sport and record breakers. It features racing cars, production cars, prototypes, concept vehicles, trucks, motorcycles and buses, and mechanical components.

Having previously volunteered for the National Motor Museum Trust, Sarah Wyatt was recruited to the role of Film and Video Curator. Sarah spent over 20 years in corporate financial services and this role represented an opportunity for a career change into an area in which she had a long-held passion. Funding from the Beaverbrook Foundation has enabled her to develop her museum skills, including undertaking and gaining a Master’s degree in Museum Studies via the University of Leicester.

Sarah has undertaken a detailed Collection Audit procedure, working with three volunteers trained and supervised by her; so far nearly 26,000 individual films, videos and audio recordings have been examined and recorded. This has provided an unprecedented volume of data including location and condition information. This process also facilitates collections care where needed with many items benefitting from re-canning, cleaning and repair.

Cellulose acetate films are vulnerable to irreversible deterioration – known as Vinegar Syndrome, due to its distinctive smell. Sarah has carried out a comprehensive testing programme across the film collection and quarantined over 200 films affected by the syndrome. These films are now undergoing a prioritised digitisation programme and are being placed in frozen deep storage to arrest the deterioration.

Sarah has curated and edited film and video from the collection to be incorporated into several new displays within the museum. She has most recently used her editing skills to pull together digital content across all of the NMMT’s collections to produce a range of audio-visual displays for The Luxury of Motoring exhibition. Keeping this part of the exhibition work in-house, rather than employing external specialist audiovisual contractors saved the NMMT several thousands in project costs.

Sarah has also championed the promotion of the National Motor Museum Trust’s collections via Facebook posts, internal and external newsletters and the Ford Heritage YouTube Channel. Sarah has edited and uploaded over 50 films to this channel, with the channel attracting over 2.75 million views (as at April 2018).

Funding from the Beaverbrook Foundation has enabled the National Motor Museum Trust to significantly improve collections care, information and access. It has given the NMMT the opportunity to develop the fledgling careers of three professionals, all of whom have benefited greatly from the roles they have filled as a result.

The NMMT is keen to continue the investment made by the Beaverbrook Foundation, and has committed to maintaining Sarah’s role until the end of January 2019 once the Foundation’s funding comes to an end during mid-2018.

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